INCREASE AND DECREASE OF BIRDS IN TAY AREA 203 



which we should specially endeavour to protect. These are 

 the Goldfinch, the Dotterel, and the Great Spotted Wood- 

 pecker. None of these birds do any damage, and conse- 

 quently there can be no object in destroying them or their 

 eggs, except the selfish one of acquisition. 



THE GOLDFINCH (Cardudis degans] is almost extinct. 

 I have myself only once seen it in Scotland, but there can 

 be no doubt, if the few pairs which are annually known to 

 breed were not trapped or killed and their nests taken, this 

 beautiful bird would again become established. 



THE DOTTEREL (Eudromias morinellus) is one of our 

 rarest birds now, and I only know of two places in the 

 Perthshire district where it breeds. It is, I suppose, almost 

 extinct on the Cumberland hills, and unless the taking of its 

 eggs is put a stop to, it will, before many years, become 

 extinct also in Perthshire. 1 



THE GREAT SPOTTED WOODPECKER (Picus major}. 

 Though I have only once seen it myself, I have been credibly 

 informed that this bird breeds regularly on an estate in 

 Perthshire, where it is carefully preserved, so I suppose the 

 notices which we occasionally see in the newspapers of its 

 occurrence in neighbouring counties may possibly refer to 

 individuals which have been bred in, and strayed from this 

 district. 2 



It is useless, I suppose, to attempt to say a good word 

 for any of the RAPTORES. 



Thanks to Lord Breadalbane, the Golden Eagle (Aquila 

 chryscetos} is still to be found in the Black Mount, but the 

 Hen Harrier (Circus cyaneus], the Common Buzzard (Buteo 

 vulgaris\ the Kite (Milvus ictinus], the Honey Buzzard 

 (Pernis apivorus\ and the Osprey (Pandion haliatus), though 

 still included in the lists of Perthshire birds, are with the 

 exception of one species practically extinct, although one 

 hears at rare intervals of an occasional specimen being 



1 But consult "A Vertebrate Fauna of Lakeland, including Cumberland, 

 etc.," by Rev. H. A. Macpherson, 1892, p. 348 ; and on our latest authority 

 we find that "its numbers have undoubtedly decreased of late years" (Howard 

 Saunders's "Manual," 1899, p. 535); but we have still to learn of its actual 

 extinction having taken place. J. A. HARVIE-BROWN. 



2 Further evidence of their having bred at this locality, which dates previous 

 to the year 1897, has been placed in our hands, but not for publication. J. A. 

 HARVIE-BROWN. 



